Photos are more valuable than gemstones because they hold our memories and sometimes our dreams and ambitions, too! For this reason, I find that cropping tools can help to enhance them and keep the focus on the essential aspects without detracting from their original meaning. So, how do you crop a photo on an iPad?
If You Want To Crop A Photo On Your iPad, You Need To:
- Find and install an App that can crop your photos
- Launch your app and open the image you want to crop
- Use your app tools to crop your photo to your liking
- Complete the cropping process and save your work
1. Find And Install An App That Can Crop Your Photos
The first step is to find an app that will be able to crop your photos flawlessly! The Apple Photos app and an app called PhotoDirector, are great places to start!
Photos App
The Photos app on the iPad is a great tool for organizing, editing, and sharing photos. The software has several editing tools for your iPad and can compete with some of the finest picture editing programs for your Mac.
Whether you’re an established photographer or just getting started with the Camera app on your iPhone, knowing how to manage and organize your photos in Photos is critical. The Photos app makes it simple to rotate and crop photos. It also provides all the capability you’ll need to crop a square or rectangular photo.
Cropping a photo allows you to change the frame of the image to include only the area you desire. It’s not quite like resizing a photo, which keeps the entire image intact while changing the size.
The Photos app comes standard with all iOS devices, meaning you don’t need to pay for it. However, if you ever lose yours, know that it’s free to download from the Apple Store. It scores 3.8 stars at 1 500 ratings.
PhotoDirector
PhotoDirector is a photo-editing program with invaluable tools for cropping your photographs to your liking. It even goes beyond that, with thousands of stickers, filters, frames, and professional effects to dress up your photos with exciting effects and animations.
Users may access predefined aspect ratios for social media platforms such as Instagram Stories and Facebook Covers. The software also has an AI algorithm that allows users to erase unwanted foreign objects from photos and replace them with environmental elements, like the sky or ground.
With a few taps, it’s quick to remove unwanted objects, magically change the background, and edit photos for maximum creativity with intriguing effects such as bokeh and dispersion. Precision tools enable users to adjust essential lighting and color attributes or crop their photos to transform minor details and enhance them.
PhotoDirector has a free version on the Apple Store and a 30-day free premium trial. Afterward, your app will revert to the free version, or you can opt to keep paying for the premium version. The app has a score of 4.6 stars on the Apple Store with 2 400 ratings.

2. Launch Your App And Open The Image You Want To Crop
It’s time to fire up your app – you will likely find a shortcut to your app on your iPad’s Home screen. Afterward, select the photo or image you want to crop.
If your app of choice is Photos:
- Launch the Photos app on your Home screen, denoted by a multi-colored flower.
- Find the Albums icon at the bottom-right of the app window; it has the appearance of overlapping rectangles.
- Select the album that is most likely to contain the image you want to crop. You can expect to see several listed albums, like Favorites, Places, People, Camera Roll, or All Photos, if your iCloud Photo Library is active.
If you plan to use PhotoDirector:
- Launch your PhotoDirector app by opening the shortcut on your iPad Home screen; the icon looks like a multi-colored camera lens.
- Import the photo you want to crop by navigating to Library and clicking the Import button at the bottom of the library panel.
- Select the import option for Photos, and browse your computer or removable device, selecting all the photos you want. Then, click Open. Afterward, you should see a thumbnail for each photo you chose in the Photo Import window.
- If the photo files you wish to import are not visible in the current folder, ensure the correct file type is chosen in the Select Some Photos dialog’s bottom right corner.

3. Use Your App Tools To Crop Your Photo To Your Liking
Now that your photo and tools are ready let’s crop your photos or pictures.
With the Photos App:
- Look for the Edit button located in the top-right corner of the app window; it looks like sliders with buttons.
- Hit the Crop button in the bottom-left of the app window, with the appearance of two overlapping angles. If your iPad is in a horizontal position, the icon will appear on the right side of the display.
- Crop your photo either manually or with a preset constraint for an aspect ratio.
- To crop manually, tap and drag any corner or side of your photo. For instance, pulling the bottom side up will remove the entire photo section below it.
- If you want to resize your photo with an aspect ratio instead, tap the icon of overlapping squares at the bottom-right of the app window; this will reveal a comprehensive list of available preset constraints, like Square or 9:16.
With PhotoDirector:
- Once you have PhotoDirector open and your photo is ready, navigate to the top of the app window and select the option Adjustment.
- In the pane on the right, tap on the first icon from the left that looks a little like a bow and arrow labeled Crop and straighten. Here you’ll find the toolset to crop your file.
- Two new options – a drop-down box and slider – will appear: Area and Angle. Tap on Area and select what the final size of your cropped photo should be after cropping it.
- Use your fingers to pinch any of the corners of the picture and start to crop it to fit your desired aesthetic.
- When you’re satisfied with your photo, tap the Done button in the left pane, down from the Angle slider.
4. Complete The Cropping Process And Save Your Work
If you don’t save your cropped photos, then your work would have been for naught! So, here’s how you save for both Photos and PhotoDirector.
To save your photos with Photos:
- After cropping your photo, hit the Done button in the bottom-right corner of the app window. It will save all your changes and depart the editing screen. Holding your iPad in a horizontal position will place the Done button in the window’s top-right corner instead.
- If you want to revert your alterations for whatever reason, tap Cancel in the bottom-left corner of the app window. Then, choose Discard Changes. It will revert the photo to its original state before any changes. If your iPad is horizontal, look for the Cancel button in the lower-right corner of the app window.
To save your photos with PhotoDirector:
- Navigate to the Save/share button in the bottom-left corner of the app window.
- From the launch menu, select Save as a PhotoDirector Layer file (*.PHI).
- Select a location to save your photo.
Where To Next?
This blog is a blog dedicated to using modern computing devices to run and manage a business. If you’re interested in using an iPad for your business, either as an entrepreneur, a small business owner or for your employees to use I recommend reading the following articles: